Galileo Antichrist: A Biography

A giant of science, Galileo's achievements allow him to be bracketed alongside Newton, Einstein, and Darwin. A devout Roman Catholic, his genius threw him into conflict with his church and his refusal to back down turned him into a martyr for many. Both biography and exploration of a time when religious and scientific understanding had become deeply and dangerously intertwined, traces the path that led to its subject's denunciation as a heretic—complete with suggestions of conspiracy and cover up. In this unapologetic critique of religion's influence over the development of science, White draws on evidence discovered in the Vatican archives to question the accepted reasons for Galileo's trial. In doing so he shows why Galileo became such a contentious figure—so contentious, in fact, that, centuries later, Pope Benedict XVI felt driven to declare the process against the father of science as "reasonable and just."